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Court and Public Defender warn of rising indigent defense costs; committee recommends scaled supplement
Summary
Superior Court and Public Defender requested supplemental appropriations totaling several million dollars to cover rising caseloads and salary shortfalls; the committee recommended a reduced, reserve‑backed appropriation with further review.
The committee considered two related supplemental appropriation requests to cover indigent defense costs.
The San Francisco Superior Court asked for a $3,257,000 supplemental to fund the court’s indigent‑defense conflicts panel through the end of the fiscal year. The request reflected higher appointment volumes (projected 9,248 cases this year versus 7,085 the prior year) and a larger share of serious cases going to trial. The court emphasized some of the increase arises from conflicts when the Public Defender cannot represent a defendant for ethical reasons.
Public Defender Jeff Adachi requested a $1,813,616 supplemental to allow the department to fill critical vacancies and cover a current‑year salary shortfall; he said insufficient staffing had forced the office to outsource more than 800 cases and that adequate staffing would reduce long‑term costs and limit conflict appointments to true conflicts.
The budget analyst recommended trimming the court’s request by $406,665 based on updated projections, and recommended a lower supplement for the Public Defender consistent with the controller’s staffing analysis. Controller and budget staff worked with the Public Defender on caseload modeling to identify a staffing level that the Public Defender agreed could reduce outsourcing and unavailability. The committee recommended forwarding the adjusted supplements to the full Board, with the court amount placed on reserve in case additional funds are required.
